Digital Politics With Karen Jagoda

Josh Justice, CEO of Peerly, has been working on an AI tool for managing and responding to the volume of text messages exchanged using the Peerly peer-to-peer texting platform. Now widely available, AMP {AI} enhances the value of voter engagement and provides rich data that reveals sentiment and real-time interest. We talk about: The changing nature of voter engagement Optimizing voter targeting based on responses to text messages The shift from generic campaign messages to personalized messaging Managing follow-ups to requests and opt-outs How AI changes the role of volunteers and campaign staffers #Peerly #AI #AMPAI #P2PTexting #P2P #VoterEngagement #VoterSegmentation #VoterOutreach Peerly.com Peerly.com/amp-ai

Molly Rima Hoopes, Senior Political Account Executive, Division D at VoterX, is working in the expanding arena where targeting and media offer new options for finding and persuading voters. Though traditional media buyers are still buying linear TV ads, cross-screen reach and targeting opportunities offer incremental reach for campaigns to find cord-cutters, deliver a call to action to specific audiences, and supply metrics about engagement for building relationships.   We talk about: Cross-screen reach and need for appropriate creative for each viewing experience Programmatic social display ad buying on social media to reach beyond the base Rich media formats that have been developed to increase voter engagement Targeting opportunities to reach new and low-propensity voters How Influencer marketing is being used in political campaigns #VoterX #PoliticalAds #DigitalAds #Fundraising #Organizing #VoterPersuasion #VoterEngagement #PoliticalCampaigns #Election2024 VoterX.com

Gina Keller, Co-Founder of Distill Social, joins Deepak Puri, CEO of The Democracy Labs, to highlight how social media is used for grassroots activities in Michigan to drive voter awareness, voter registration, and turnout. Gina shares insights about using TikTok to offer something as simple as a sticker to raise interest and enthusiasm.  Deepak and Gina talk about: Building emotional connections with voters How content is shared on TikTok, Instagram, and other social media sites Turning words into visuals Multi-layered approach including online ads and organic content is needed to talk to those beyond the base Improving the chance of content to go viral  Organizing online versus walking the neighborhood #DistillSocial #Organizing #TikTokforOrganizing #RelationalOrganizing #OnlineAdvertising #PoliticalAds #Election2024 @TheDemLabs DistillSocial.com TheDemLabs.org  

Richard Rose and Raymond McClendon Communities United for Justice join Deepak Puri, CEO of The Democracy Labs, to review relational organizing using local leaders to build awareness about candidates and ballot initiatives. The topic is how grassroots organizers are using digital and traditional tools to build robust networks of organizations targeting specific voters to get out the vote. Richard and Raymond have started in Georgia, moving from there to demonstrate the power of collaboration to win elections. Deepak. Richard and Raymond talk about: Competition to get voters excited about voting Voter mobilization, particularly of younger voters Fighting disinformation and misinformation about candidates and issues Using social media and text to build relationships with voters #Cu4Justice @TheDemLabs #GOTV #Organizing #VoterTurnout #GrassrootsOrganizing #Mobilization  Cu4Justice.com  TheDemLabs.org

Matthew Hildreth, Executive Director of Rural Organizing, joins Deepak Puri, CEO of The Democracy Labs, to identify the elements of rural communities often missed by candidates in their search for voters. With a background in broadcasting and local engagement, Matthew points out the need for more funding for organizing in rural areas and leadership development at the local level. Deepak and Matthew talk about: Growing the Democratic brand in rural communities Organizing in rural areas What campaigns do not understand about rural voters Civic infrastructure in rural areas The good and the bad of local media #RuralOrganizing #RuralVoters #Organizing #Fundraising #Election2024 @TheDemLabs RuralOrganizing.org TheDemLabs.org

Rachel Levy, candidate for the Virginia House of Delegates in the November 2023 election, joins Deepak Puri, CEO of The Democracy Labs, to provide a view from the front lines of running for office in a primarily rural, newly drawn district. Rachel is an activist, teacher, mom, wife, and candidate with a strong sense of the need for civic engagement to fight extremism.  Deepak and Rachel talk about: Diversity in rural communities Techniques that work for outreach and canvasing in a mostly rural conservative district Issues most important to rural and small-town voters Encouraging civic engagement Driving GOTV #RachelForDelegate #VA59thDistrict #VAElection2023 #GOTV RachelforDelegate.org TheDemLabs.org

Michael Kaiser is the President and CEO of Defending Digital Campaigns, a nonprofit and nonpartisan organization working with Federal campaigns to secure their organizations and staff against cybercrime. DDC is providing free and low-cost security tools not counted as a campaign contribution with special permission by the FEC because unsafe political campaign practices are seen as a national security threat. We talk about Most significant cyber threats to political campaigns What cyber bad actors are trying to accomplish Security tools that DDC is making available to campaigns, staffers, candidates and their family members Focusing on what might happen, not what could happen Expanding this model to state and local races #DefendingDigitalCampaigns #DDC #2024Elections #PoliticalCampaigns #AI #Deepfakes #Disinformation #Misinformation #Cybersecurity #CampaignTech DefendCampaigns.org  

Holli Holliday, lawyer and President of Sisters Lead Sisters Vote, joins Deepak Puri, CEO of The Democracy Labs, to shine a light on the obstacles that are part of the system that keep first-time candidates from succeeding. While candidates supported by the established parties are told about access to voter lists and committee support, newcomers are often not aware of the resources that are available for fundraising and organizing. Deepak and Holli talk about Paths to leadership development Overcoming the unknowns for women thinking about running for office Why leaders need to show up and not just rely on grassroots supporters Identifying and amplifying community problems using visualization tools and maps Examples of Black women leaders The power of collective thought to bring about change #SistersLeadSistersVote #PoliticalCampaigns #WomenCandidates #BlackWomenLeaders #Leadership @TheDemLabs @Hollileshae SistersLeadSistersVote.org TheDemLabs.org

Annabel Roubinowitz, a high school senior living in San Francisco, surveyed her Gen-Z cohorts to find out what issues they are concerned about and why they do or do not vote. While young people seem excited about hot-button issues like reproductive rights and gun control, they are not registering to vote or turning out to vote in expected numbers. Annabel's research sheds some light on how candidates can tap into this rage and enthusiasm to engage more Gen-Z to vote. We talk about: What turns Gen-Z off about voting What issues are relevant to Gen-Z post-COVID  Advancing from online activism to voting Advice for candidates to get the attention of Gen-Z Role of peer pressure to change behavior and attitudes The podcast tbh: by, about, and for teenagers podcast Annabel did as part of the KALW Public Media project #GenZ #Activism #KALW #BradyCenter #YoungVoters #GOTV #GunControl #ClimateChange #ReproductiveRights https://www.kalw.org/podcast/tbh-made-by-about-and-for-teenagers/2023-08-24/why-gen-z-activism-isnt

Cassie Choi, Co-Founder of the Pair Team, is focused on the challenge of finding available and affordable childcare for high-risk and high-need populations and the actions that can be taken to improve the health of families. As a White House Clinician Innovators Roundtable member, Cassie is looking at the health ecosystem and how to drive civic engagement from all stakeholders to help advance healthcare needs. As a nurse and entrepreneur, Cassis is advocating for childcare with the Biden administration to stimulate innovation at the state and local levels to address childcare needs and better understand how that affects the social determinants of the health of their populations. We talk about: Movers of health equity and which communities are most affected by the lack of childcare resources Raising awareness about unmet childcare and eldercare needs  National, state, and local activities to address childcare and whole-person healthcare of at-risk communities Connection between social determinants of health a

Deepak Puri, CEO of The Democracy Labs, brings his technical skills to applying AI to dense text to make it accessible to a broader audience. This episode includes a sample of turning text-to-audio from the introduction of the Georgia indictment of election fraud and demonstrates the limitations and opportunities for a tool like Audyo.ai. We talk about: Creating a rapid response to breaking news by using AI-based apps to turn text into a voice of choice  Fighting voter apathy with short, understandable content that drives action on the local level Best practices for using generative AI in political and advocacy campaigns @TheDemLabs #AI #TexttoAudio #PoliticalMessaging #VoterApathy TheDemLabs.org Audyo.ai  

Yemi Adewunmi is the Co-Founder and COO of Plural, part of the Higher Ground Labs portfolio of companies.  Plural has recognized the opportunity to apply AI to track the discovery, creation, and iterations of legislation at the congressional and state level to inform a number of different stakeholders.  Based on her experience working at the New York State Legislature, Yemi and her team provide tools to change how policy data can be viewed to identify trends and opportunities and aid collaboration. We talk about: Opportunities to unlock the power of legislative intelligence when the legislative process is more transparent The value of real-time information and alerts about the progress of legislation for those in the opposition Learning from the mistakes and successes of other state legislatures Value of their free offering to become acquainted with the AI tool The future of AI in influencing public policy #PluralPolicy #Legislation #LegislativeTracking #PublicPolicy #AI #AILegislativeTracking #AIAlerts #Ac

Joann Loulan, Executive Director of Local Majority, joins Deepak Puri, CEO, of The Democracy Labs, in a story about activism at the state level and the need to pay attention to what state legislatures are doing. Local Majority is promoting research from subject experts to counteract the influences of misleading and disinformation at the state and local levels. Deepak and Joann discuss: Why well-documented research is essential to dispelling misinformation and disinformation about the activities of state legislatures Use of rolling billboards to promote candidates and highlight local issues Finding and engaging specific voters to motivate them to take an interest in state and local candidates Who is taking responsibility for infrastructure projects #BlueforYou #LocalMajority @TheDemLabs #Activism #Disinformation #Misinformation #LocalPolitics BlueforYou.org TheDemLabs.org

Beth Dwyer, Vice President of Sales at Dotdash Meredith's MNI Targeted Media, worked for the Washington Post and Politico on the corporate side. Beth came to political adverting in 2017 when she realized the role digital advertising could play in political campaigns. She notes the changes since 2020 in the amount of money spent on digital ads and when that money will be spent to reach voters in 2024. Because of the fragmentation in the ad market, programmatic demonstrates that ad buys should be less about where the voter is and more about reaching the desired audience using data points outside of traditional voter data to understand voter behavior and target opportunities. We talk about: Advantages of digital ads over linear tv ads Targeting voters using programmatic, OTT/CTV, and social media Availability of ad inventory across the web Need to talk to young voters and Hispanic and African-American communities Most desirable online audiences in 2024 Use of AI in political advertising and building relationshi

Jess Ellis, Senior Specialist, Client Partnerships, Politics VDX.tv, gives an orientation on how political tv advertising has expanded to include a significant investment in connected tv ads. To reach cord-cutters, campaigns increasingly realize that CTV ads find voters on the right screen at the right time to persuade, inform, and mobilize. Streaming video allows for specific targeting of voters compared to buying ads on linear tv in expensive media markets. Digital video ads reach people where they are throughout the day and give the advertiser the ability to interact and follow up. We talk about: Why CTV is a powerful medium for reaching audiences Whether CTV ad buys are coming from the tv or digital media budgets Creative options for interactive ads run on CTV Using multilingual ads and influencers to target specific audiences Need to experiment with CTV to determine message and targeting effectiveness #PoliticalAdvertising #Election2024 #CTVads #CTV #DigitalAdSpend #PoliticalTrends #PoliticalCampaigns

Alshika Jennela, Program Manager Mis/Disinformation at Indian American Impact, and Deepak Puri, CEO of The Democracy Labs, TheDemLabs.org, talk about how WhatsApp is used by people all around the globe. It is seen as a trusted source of news from friends and family while, at the same time, a source of disinformation. With deep insights into the Indian American and South Asian American communities, they highlight how activists are working to present facts and correct misinformation and disinformation spreading on social media.  Deepak and Alshika discuss: Lessons learned from the spread of misinformation during COVID Who is using WhatsApp  How disinformation related to politics is spreading on social media How to fight mis/disinformation within minority communities @IA_Impact @TheDemLabs #WhatsApp #Disinformation #Misinformation #IndianAmerican #SouthAsianAmerican  IAImpact.org  Desifacts.org  Meedan.org TheDemLabs.org

Ray Kingman, CEO and Founder of Semcasting, a data service company, is taking voter files to the next level by including more relevant data to support digital marketing in political campaigns.  Their cookie-free approach uses IP delivery points, device information, email, and offline data and matches to online activity and other known voter characteristics. They are testing a digital activity scoring system and different new twists on the data to allow campaigns to create discussions with voters and not just display messages. We talk about: Improving the reach of digital political ads Value of the constellation approach to finding voters Designing a more effective media mix to target and reach the desired audience Why understanding early voters means saving money on later media buys and improving outcomes Authorized use of voter files @Semcasting #TargetingVoters #DigitalIdentities #PoliticalCampaigns #Voters #CTV #PoliticalAds Semcasting.com

Lauren Kunis, CEO of VoteRiders, and Deepak Puri, CEO of The Democracy Labs, TheDemLabs.org, talk about the various voter ID laws that prevent or intimidate eligible Americans from casting a ballot that is counted.  VoteRiders has a nationwide network to provide voter ID education and assistance to get the form of ID that is accepted to register and vote. Deepak and Lauren discuss State-by-state challenges of getting an acceptable ID to register to vote  Why underrepresented communities are the hardest hit by voter suppression tactics Building a voting public that is more representative of the population Need for site-based voter ID assistance to expand the electorate Lifting language barriers by providing resources in Spanish and other local languages  @VoteRiders @TheDemLabs #VoterID #VoterSuppression #Voters #Gerrymandering #DemographicGerrymandering VoteRiders.org TheDemLabs.org

Julia Bayer, solution engineer National Government team  & Michelle Kinzer, Public Policy Team of Esri, join Deepak Puri, CEO of The Democracy Labs, to discuss the power of geographic information to gain a greater understanding of problems and as a means to engage voters in solutions. They emphasize we all share location and a sense of place, and maps can present facts and persuade viewers to broaden their view. Deepak talks with Julia and Michelle about: What maps can communicate How GIS can be used by campaigns to visualize voter trends and identify new target demographics Why GIS tools are being used by more campaigns and government entities Using StoryMaps for persuasion to localize data and present a personalized view of issues Integrating visualization and dynamic maps into the dashboard driving campaign decisions  @Esri @ThDemLabs #GIS #Maps #TargetingVoters #Visualization #Misinformation #Persuasion #Voters #PoliticalCampaigns Esri.com TheDemLabs.org

Ineke Mushovic, Executive Director of Wide Angle Research and Republican Rule, and Deepak Puri, CEO of The Democracy Labs, agree that candidates from the top of the ballot to the bottom can productively use strong images and provocative ads to draw in voters and drive a call to action. The Wide Angle Research approach brings video and storytelling techniques to down-ballot races and advocates looking to educate and persuade. Deepak and Ineke talk about: Use of political and advocacy ads to paint a dystopian view Need to tie issues together to make the point to voters Framing issues to tap into fear and an emotional response Using fear productively Making the argument in a concise and memorable way @TheDemLabs #WideAngleResearch #PoliticalAds #VoterPersuasion WideAngleResearch.org  RepublicanRule.org   TheDemLabs.org